


Things Have Changed (And That's Okay)

by youwinricky



Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Love Confessions, M/M, Misunderstandings, and that makes her upset, buffys just really confused, i guess? idk, rated t for a buncha random cursing, tj's a really good bro
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-24
Updated: 2018-09-24
Packaged: 2019-07-16 09:10:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,778
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16082993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youwinricky/pseuds/youwinricky
Summary: Buffy wakes up to her mom being back home, she’s halfway through her sophomore year of high school, and, for some reason, Andi keeps calling them girlfriends.





	Things Have Changed (And That's Okay)

**Author's Note:**

> i didn't edit this but it's 10 pm so i'm just hoping that it actually makes some sense. also i wrote this cus school makes me sad + there should be more bandi fics brUh
> 
> \- the title's from that green gentleman by panic! at the disco

The smell of pancakes engulfed in the sweetness of maple syrup bring Buffy to awaken ten minutes before her usual six o’clock alarm. It’s heavenly, almost, and puts a smile to her face. She hardly can remember the last time she’d been woken up to an actual breakfast, not since the last time her mother was with her. Buffy’s smile then fades. Was it her dad who’d made pancakes, then? Curiously, she kicks her blanket off herself and gets out of bed. The smell grows sweeter the closer she gets to the kitchen, and a gasp gets caught in her throat when she sees her mom capping the bottle of syrup. “ _Mom _?” Buffy whispers, mostly to herself as she’s sure what she’s seeing couldn’t possibly be real. Just last weekend they’d been talking about how she wouldn’t be home for another six months. Buffy’s jaw is dropped as she sees her mother’s bright brown eyes look to her. “Hey, sweetheart,” Her smile grows, “What’s wrong?” She starts plating two pancakes for her daughter, and sets them at the table for Buffy to sit at. But Buffy feels completely frozen to the tile floor.__

____

“Noth- I… I didn’t know you were home- you said-” Buffy stutters over her words, then squeezes her eyes shut. She’s hit with another wave of confusion as she tries to make sense of why her mother is home now. Unless she came in the middle of the night and didn’t tell her- but why would she do that- 

“I stopped by to meet up with my friend. Karla, remember? I said I wouldn’t get home until pretty late. Come eat, then we can get you to school.” Another warm smile and a nod to the table. Buffy conciles, feeling heavy with each step she takes to her chair just across from where her mom stands. She feels _strange _. As if everything is out of place. Even outside looked a lot more darker and gloomy, from what Buffy can make out of it from the kitchen window. Yesterday she was shooting hoops outside with Jonah Beck while waiting to get picked up from school, the sun beating down on them was intense. This weather is nothing compared to that.__

____

__

“I thought you weren’t going to be here until October,” Buffy says, followed by scratch from her fork raking across the glass plate. She cringes slightly while lifting the utensil up. Her mother’s smile falters a bit, and she takes a seat in front of Buffy. “What are you talking about, dear? It’s already December. I’ve been back for awhile now. Are you feeling alright?” The last question is meant as a joke, Buffy could tell by the cheerful voice of her mother, but no. Buffy is definitely not feeling alright given that she could have sworn just yesterday that Cyrus was talking about Valentine’s Day being just a week away. Buffy swallows hard, glaring down at her plate and pushes a piece of horribly sliced pancake back and forth across it. 

“Yeah, I’m okay, mom. I’m just- still surprised and really happy you’re back. That’s all.” Buffy shrugs. She still feels odd. It couldn’t possibly be October. There’s absolutely no way. 

“I’m happy I’m back too,” her mother places her hand over Buffy’s that is still holding the fork, “Now hurry up and eat, love. Can’t be late for school.” 

Buffy feels a queasy feeling settle into the pit of her stomach. She places her hand over where the pain is, and her shoulders droop. The morning's already been mortifying, she’s scared of what else could happen following the rest of the day. 

-

The building is familiar, yet Buffy has never been this close to it. She has to rub at her eyes to tell if she’s seeing correctly. It looks almost identical to Jefferson, except _Jefferson High School _is printed onto the building along with a mascot. Her stomach drops. “Mom?” She looks to her side. Her mother hums and turns down the radio. A song she’s never heard before.__

____

____

“Why are- why are we at a high school?” She stutters again. When she looks back out the window, she spies Jonah, her eyes widen. Since when was she shorter than Jonah? “What’re you talking about, sweetheart?” The nickname sounds strangely as if she’s been mocked, “It’s your school. What’s going on with you today?” She laughs sweetly, just like the syrup on their pancakes from breakfast. 

Buffy shakes her head. She leans back into the passenger seat of the car, out the window where she notices more kids from Jefferson. Jonah’s gone, which makes her worry more. “I don’t know, mom. I’ll- I’ll try figuring it out.” 

Her mom leans over to press a kiss to her forehead. “Okay,” she says, “Hope you have a good day. I love you.” 

Buffy opens the car door, letting it swing open. “Love you too,” Buffy grabs her backpack and swings it over her shoulders. After kicking the door closed with her foot, she follows the group of kids she knows into the high school building. A weight drops onto her shoulders, and she lowers her head so she’s watching every step she takes on the unfamiliar sidewalk, but can still trace to where she’s going. Most of the kids have dispersed into their respective friend groups, occupying outside tables, some others go inside to what Buffy assumes is the school’s cafeteria. It’s a respectively small high school, meaning that Jonah shouldn’t be too far from where she is. She grips the handles of her bag as she walks, now with her head up, hoping to spot the green eyes of Jonah Beck or even Cyrus or Andi. It feels like it’s been an eternity since she’d last seen them. 

She doesn’t find any of the three, much to the girl’s disappointment, but spots TJ Kippen talking to two boys she’s never seen before. She grows uncomfortable while approaching the taller boy. He’s wearing his hair differently now from when she last saw him, which was only three days ago, and this was the first time she’d seen him with his hair down. “Hey,” she’d said stiffly, whether it’s because she has no clue what’s going on or because her and TJ aren’t close at all, she doesn’t know for sure, but the dirty blonde smiles when she greets him. A genuine one that seems odd coming from TJ in regards of Buffy. Cyrus, _sure _, and him and Jonah have been getting closer as friends, but- “Hey, Driscoll,” TJ says and pulls her in for a side hug, one of his arms going around her shoulders. Buffy tenses up, and she hopes TJ realises how strange she’s feeling. Unfortunately, he doesn’t, and continues on as if that was a normal thing for them to do.  
__

__“Why-” Buffy cuts herself off from mentioning anything, “I mean, have you seen Jonah or Cyrus? Andi?” She stuff her hands into her pockets and looks down to her feet again._ _

____

____

TJ’s unknown friends had wandered off, leaving just the two of them standing alone together. “I saw Jonah coming in, haven’t seen the others. Wouldn’t you be the one to know where your girlfriend is, though? The obligatory morning texts are still a thing, right?” TJ smirks, and Buffy thinks she’s supposed to be laughing and telling TJ to shut up. But she’s at a loss for words. She opens her mouth slightly, hoping her lips would spill words that her mind was racing to contort together. They never come. “I don’t think I got anything from her this morning- why would she call us girl-” Buffy takes a pause, and feels around for her phone that she placed in one of her pockets. When she finds it, she’s scrolling through a series of Instagram notifications and then a few texts. She’s trying to ignore that her homescreen is a picture of her and Andi together, her pressing a kiss to Andi’s cheek. And much to Buffy’s surprise, she sees Andi’s name on her screen thrice, too. All of them have a series of heart emojis afterwards. Andi, only ever on rare occasions, would text her good morning and that she’ll be waiting at their usual table with mini blueberry muffins. 

“Oh, shit,” TJ’s voice alters itself to a whisper, “Was I not supposed to know? Andi was talking about it and I thought-” 

“It’s fine,” Buffy says sharply. TJ grows silent. Tension builds between them while Buffy continues scrolling through her and Andi’s past texts. One of them mentions both TJ and Cyrus, and Buffy snaps her head back up to see the basketball player. “What’s with you and Cyrus?” The text that she allegedly sent Andi: _I’ll meet you in a few minutes, cyrus and tj are going on a date _has her thoughts flying through her head at lightning speed.__

____

____

TJ laughs awkwardly. He runs one of his hands through his hair, ruffling it up a bit. “What’re you talking about? And I should be asking you the same thing about Andi. Are you guys not official, or something?” 

Buffy shakes her head in disbelief. “No- I didn’t-” She looks back down to her phone, a quiet _ding! _comes from her phone. A new text from Andi comes through: _where are you? _Buffy takes a deep breath before typing: _talking to tj._____

_____ _

Seconds pass until her phone makes the sound again. _oh, i see you _is displayed on her screen. Buffy’s heart picks up speed as she turns around to look for her friend. Or, whatever TJ keeps referring to them as. She’s wearing overalls and a striped rainbow shirt underneath, nothing too out of the ordinary for Andi’s usual attire, beside the choker and red lipstick. Cyrus also accompanies her, and they’re both engaged in conversation, Cyrus doing most of the talking. Andi soon meets Buffy’s gaze, and she waves at her while her face contorts to a huge and bright smile. Buffy doesn’t think she’s ever seen the girl smile in such a way.__

____

“Hi, you,” Andi tells her. Buffy attempts to force out a hi back, but her effort falls short when Andi leans in to kiss her cheek, surely leaving a red stain on her skin. Buffy feels her face grow red, too. She’s blushing from her cheeks down to her neck. “Um- I, hey-” And if Buffy wasn’t already confused, she sees Cyrus and TJ peck each other’s lips and immediately start talking about a movie they want to go see together. As if they didn’t, well, just kiss. Now she swears she can feel the kiss Andi gave her burning onto her skin. “Woah, love, are you okay?” Andi asks her, pushing some of Buffy’s curls away from her face. She presses another kiss to her head, just above her eyebrow. “You look sick.” The pet name Andi just said doesn’t help Buffy’s case much, and she runs a hand over her face in exasperation. 

“I don’t understand what’s going on,” Buffy says truthfully. Upon hearing her words, TJ and Cyrus rejoin her and Andi. Cyrus grows silent and the previous hearteyes TJ was sporting disappear as he looks to Buffy’s distressed state. “Hey, hey,” Cyrus tries to reconcile her, “What aren’t you- what don’t you get?” TJ’s hand goes to Cyrus’ waist. Buffy sucks in a breath and looks to Andi. Her friend looks so unhappy seeing her unhappy, and Buffy’s stomach twist. She’s biting her bottom lip loosely, looking over Buffy’s face. And Cyrus looked so joyful being with TJ- albeit Buffy’s extreme concern that still lingers whenever she sees them together. But now they’re apparently _together _-__

____

____

“I just had a bad morning, I guess. Maybe I’m… getting sick. Yeah.” It was a lame excuse, sure, but Buffy’s desperate to get her friends to drop the subject. She doesn’t want them looking so hurt for something she simply can’t remember. 

So, during class, she searches through her phone. Luckily, she learns that she sits in the back with a table of three other people, and can easily hide her phone beside a notebook. She’s looking through all her social media, through every picture in her camera going back to the summer before she left middle school. There’s a series of pictures from what seemed to be a state fair, just her and Andi, and it seems a lot more romantic than any other picture they’d ever taken together. She scrolls through hundreds more, trying to find ones of her and Andi. Most are candid pictures of Andi, or them together that someone else must’ve been there to take. Like the one of them in a field of orange carnations and they’re holding each other in the iconic Titanic pose. Both of them look incredibly happy. 

Buffy also reaches the end of her Instagram, and it’s a picture of her hand interlocked with someone else’s. It doesn’t take long for her to realize that it’s Andi’s hand. When she taps the picture, Andi’s username pops up, and Buffy’s doesn’t hesitate to tap it. The screen transitions to Andi’s page, and her profile picture is one of both of them together. There seems to be endless pictures of Buffy and Andi- doing such couple-esque things together, tracing back to just them laying in bed together while cuddling. Buffy has to admit that they’re cute- but that’s not _them _. It couldn’t be. She would have remembered.__

____

____

The rest of the period goes by, with Buffy trying to remain as calm as she possibly could. Her and Andi definitely not dating. No matter what TJ and the pictures say. She goes through the pictures and deletes some of them where her and Andi are actually kissing- the ones that just are way too real for her to comprehend at the moment. Because- just yesterday- she was halfway through her seventh grade year at Jefferson middle school, with her mom overseas and she definitely was not dating her best friend. Fear dwindles through her as she shuts off her phone and stuffs in into her backpack, away from her sight. She’s also confused on what energy diagrams are, but they seem to be the least of her worries right now. 

-

Andi has their hands laced together and sat atop of what is apparently their normal lunch table, Jonah across from them trying to finish his English homework before next period began. The two of them talk normally, nothing like the sporadic conversations they used to have during middle school, not to mention that they were both head over heels for one another at some point. Buffy’s eyes dart between them, listening to Andi laugh whenever Jonah mumbled how he didn’t understand what was on his paper, and kept making marks on it only to erase them moments later. Meanwhile, her thoughts are far away from what’s going on at the lunch table, The only thing keeping her somewhat grounded is the soothing feeling of Andi’s thumb rubbing circles across the back of her hand. 

“Cyrus is good at that, you should ask him to help you. I’m sure he will,” Andi waves her hand in the direction of Jonah’s paper. 

“Yeah right, he’s probably off with TJ somewhere,” Jonah says, followed by a roll of his eyes. Buffy sucks in a sharp breath upon hearing about Cyrus and TJ again. 

“How… how long have they been dating, again?” She speaks up, anxious to get any answers about what world she’s woken up in. Yesterday Cyrus and TJ would just talk, sometimes go to the park together, but never anything beyond that. 

“The end of seventh grade. Weren’t you there? Wasn’t she there when they got together?” Jonah asks Andi. He drops his pencil to the table and lets it roll of his paper. Andi hums, and looks to Buffy. She suddenly feels smaller than before. “I think she’d remember if she was there,” Andi giggles. 

Buffy stiffens and her shoulders tense. _She can’t remember _.__

____

____

Hesitantly, she pulls her hand away from Andi. She feels her palm start to get sweaty and runs both her hands across her jeans. She doesn’t remember ever owning this pair. “Maybe I was. Guess it’s just been awhile.” She tries covering her nervousness up with a laugh. 

Other students around them then start to stand up from their respective tables, gathering up their finished lunches and heavy backpacks. “That’s our warning,” Andi says. She’d already thrown her lunch away, and lifts her backpack from the ground. “I’ll see you after school. Are you still able to go to the movies later?” Andi’s small fingers play with sleeves of Buffy’s sweater. 

“I have to ask my mom,” Buffy says, shrugging. Andi smiles, eyes crinkling at the corners. “Alright. And I’m paying- so you don’t have to worry this time. Okay?” Andi doesn’t wait for Buffy to reply as she leans in, and their lips touch briefly. Buffy’s eyes widen as she pulls back, as if her lips had been stung. Her fingers rise to touch them gently, the feeling of their short-lived kiss lingering. When the two girl’s eyes meet again, Andi looks worried- confused, too. The crinkles by her eyes that appear when she’s smiling are gone. 

“See you later-” Andi pauses and looks down. She opens her mouth to continue, but nothing comes out. Instead she mouths “bye” and walks to her next class. Buffy still has no idea what it is, although she’s sure she heard Andi mention something about an assessment on _The Great Gatsby _happening sometime today. Buffy watches until Andi is out of her sight, and turns back to Jonah. The boy is still placing his papers into a folder labelled "World History". “Where am I supposed to go?” Buffy asks, trying to sound nonchalant.__

____

____

Jonah laughs. “History, with me. Mrs. K, ya know?” 

Buffy wants to shake her head, but “oh’s” instead. She follows Jonah, hands in her pockets and hair covering most of her face. She can’t seem to get the picture of the hurt look on Andi’s face when she rejected their kiss. Jonah doesn’t notice her apprehensive state, walking beside Buffy and chatting about how nervous he is about an exam coming up soon. Buffy hardly can bring herself to care. 

-

Buffy can’t find Andi nor Jonah after her last class gets out- and fuck, what a relief finding out math was her last subject of the day- but sees Cyrus and TJ with each other outside the school campus. TJ is leaning against a brick wall, with Cyrus standing in front of him while holding onto TJ’s larger hands. Buffy tries not to think negatively about the two boy’s relationship, given that they’ve been together so long- allegedly. She walks up to the couple, hastily at that. She flinches back when TJ presses a kiss to the middle of Cyrus’ forehead. “Hey,” Buffy says, the word coming out in one shaky breath. Cyrus smiles when he sees her, and so does TJ. 

“Buffy! You’re still coming with us today, right?” Cyrus asks. He playfully pushes TJ away from him to get a better look at Buffy. 

“Shit,” Buffy mumbles. She fishes for her phone that was somewhere in her backpack still. “I haven’t asked my mom.” 

She wonders if it would be the best idea for her to join them. It would be a- a double-date, right? She could barely handle holding Andi’s hand during lunch without her hand getting sweaty- how could she-

“You haven’t asked her? We’ve been planning this for a week, girl,” Cyrus says. 

Buffy hums as a reply while texting her mom. 

Her reply came just as quick, saying: _We talked about this yesterday, hun. Of course you can go. _It ends with a red heart. Buffy furrows her brow, and puts her phone into her back pocket. “She said I can,” Buffy tells Cyrus. She tries avoiding TJ’s gaze. “That’s great!” Cyrus excitedly shouts, making a few students look his way, “But where’s Andi? She’s always with you.”__

____

____

“I feel like that might be an over-exaggerated statement, Cy-”  
Buffy gets cut off from someone’s arms being wrapped around her waist. Buffy inhales sharply, looking down at the interlocked hands resting against her stomach. “So you can go?” She hears Andi’s voice from behind her, the shorter girl’s breath hitting against her neck. Buffy remains frozen between Andi’s arms. “Uh, yup. Movies, right?” 

Andi moves around to be in front of Buffy, arms moving back to her side. “Mhm. We should probably get going, then. Cy?” Andi looks to the couple behind them, “Teej?” The nickname for the basketball player sounds odd coming out of Andi’s mouth. She’d never do that… yesterday. She’d also never kiss Buffy or hold her hand, yet there they all stand. And Buffy is uncomfortably set in between all of it. 

“Totally. Before it gets any later,” Cyrus states while pushing himself off the wall. TJ’s hand immediately finds Cyrus’, and their fingers seem to lace together effortlessly. Andi pulls Buffy along with her, TJ and Cyrus walking behind them to officially get off campus. 

-

She’s been to this movie theater tons of times before. It’s only a few blocks down from The Spoon and Buffy’s sure that her and Cyrus saw a handful of movies on the weekends together. She might even have the tickets still. However, it feels like a whole new place now that she’s going on a… date with Andi. “Okay, which movie?” Andi asks her while looking at the movie times displayed on an electronic screen above them. Her hand connects with Buffy’s while her eyes scan over the movies. “There’s the new Conjuring movie-” 

“Let’s do that one,” Buffy says quickly. She lifts her fingers to her lips to chew on her nails softly. “Oh… alright. TJ, Cyrus?” Andi looks to the couple. TJ has his arms around the smaller boy, chin almost resting at the top of his head. If he’d been just a bit taller. 

“I’m fine with it,” Cyrus says. He clasps his hands over TJ’s. Buffy internally cringes. 

Andi pays for both her and Buffy’s tickets as she said she would during lunch. Buffy stares at the paper square between her fingertips that has the date and movie information printed on it. _12/26/20 _. She woke up thinking it was _2018 _. She squeezes her eyes shut for some seconds, hoping that when she opened them the date would convert to what she assumed was early February. Alas, when she opens her eyes she’s met with a movie ticket for December. She feels queasy as she stuffs the ticket into her back pocket and catches Andi’s pretty brown eyes. With her throat tightening, she forces a smile albeit the racing thoughts hitting her all at once, flowing through her mind like waterfalls and harsh rain clouds. “Come on, it starts in five,” Andi says while holding up her ticket between her middle finger and thumb. Andi holds out her hand for Buffy to take, and she reluctantly does. Hopefully, Andi doesn’t question her hesitancy. Hopefully, this is some kind of dream- one she’s trying to grasp ahold of.____

_____ _

_____ _

Cyrus and TJ are already buying snacks at the concession stand, Buffy had no idea they’d already gone inside. She also hadn’t realized that Andi has heir fingers loosely tied together like an old tee shirt hanging by its last threads.

There’s comfort in holding Andi’s hand, Buffy had always known that and taken it as a fact, a certain feeling of warmth that settles over her as she holds her best friends hand. (Although this Andi sees them as girlfriends.) 

“How does popcorn sound? Or we can totally just take some of Cyrus and TJ’s and get candy instead.” 

Andi’s voice is foggy. Buffy knows she’s staring off in another direction, and Andi is assuming that she’s looking at the glass container lined with an abundance of different candies. “Can we just get a drink?” Buffy answers, even if the sour Skittles look particularly delicious. She glances over only to see Andi’s discouraged expression. Smile faltered, she says, “Oh. Sure. I was just wondering, ‘cause you always get the Skittles. Sour ones.” 

Buffy almost blushes at their seemingly connected thoughts, and looks down to her feet. Andi giggles from beside her, “See? I know you want them. You hardly drink soda, anyway. You can’t fool me.” Andi leans over to place a sweet kiss to Buffy’s cheek, making Buffy go even more red in the face. 

“You caught me,” Buffy says. A genuine smile appears on her face, and for a second it feels like this is the reality she’s used to. 

“Hey!” TJ’s voice rings over their… their moment, Buffy would say, and both girls look up. “We’re gonna miss the _previews _!” Cyrus joins along with his boyfriend.__

____

____

Andi laughs. “Can’t miss those. You can go to the theater and I’ll get the snacks. Save me a spot.” She unlatched their hands, and she steps up to the next open register. Buffy absently nods, the stinging of her cheek from Andi’s lips and the gentle hold Andi had on her hand clouds her head. As she walks to the theater, following close by behind TJ and Cyrus, she feels as if she’s walking on thin sheets of ice- egg shells, perhaps. She knows well that she’s acting amongst her friends that aren’t technically her friends, _right _? If it’d still been 2018, TJ and Cyrus wouldn’t be together. Her and Andi definitely wouldn’t be together- they're best friends. Andi’s straight.__

____

____

Buffy tugs at her hair, the pain at her scalp makes her hiss and she’s suddenly brought back to the theater. The darkened environment where only a green light is focused at the center, casting onto the arrangement of seats. The previews had just started, and Buffy can already see the giddiness of Cyrus. He’d always loved previews for movies, at least that hasn’t changed. 

She finds the couple towards the middle of the slight crowd, and takes a seat beside Cyrus. The boy welcomes her quietly, already holding out the popcorn for her. “Thanks,” Buffy mumbles while grasping a handful of the popcorn. Cyrus just hums and settles back down into his seat, resting his head on TJ’s shoulder. TJ has his arm hooked around Cyrus’ shoulders. Buffy taps her fingers on the armrest of her chair, carefully chewing the popcorn so she doesn’t make any noise. It sounds so loud to her. 

When Andi comes into the theater, the box of sour Skittles are already opened. “I didn’t want to be that person,” Andi says with a giggle, handing Buffy the box. Buffy appreciates it, whispering another thank you. “I also got a drink.” Buffy hears the ice swish together inside of the plastic cup. 

Buffy eats one Skittle at a time, keeping her eyes primarily focused on the movie previews. Andi doesn’t touch her, which she found surprising. (It isn’t like she expected Andi to hold her hand or anything of the sort.) But still. 

When the movie starts, Cyrus commentates on how creepy it already is. Buffy doesn’t see it, there’s far scarier things she could name at the top of her head right then and there, but agrees nonetheless. TJ playfully tells him to shut up, and Buffy catches them kissing briefly. She stuffs another two skittles into her mouth, and sinks down into her seat. 

She tries squeezing her eyes shut again. 

-

Buffy didn’t think the movie was scary. She doesn’t think a lot of things are very frightening. In fact, she thinks of herself as being a very brave person. Her mother tells her as well, all the time. She knows she can get through most things, she can make sense of it all without letting her guard down. But waking up to a reality she’d never been apart of- it terrifies her to no end. She loves Andi, she truly does. She’s unaware though, to what extent that love went to. She’s unaware of why she wake up two years later, set up to wonder what and how and _whywhywhy?_

____

____

“Are you okay?” 

Andi. Buffy looks up to see her. She’d been glaring at her hands. They shake. “Yeah- I mean, sure.” 

“You can talk to me about anything, you know that, right?” 

Buffy wants to scoff. Andi wouldn’t believe her if she tried explaining her situation. It’s far too bizarre. _This is fucking bizarre _, Buffy thinks to herself.__

____

____

“And you know that I love you, right?” Andi smiles, even though her eyes show worry and sympathy. Buffy’s stomach feels strangled. “I-” Buffy stops herself, “Y-yeah.” 

Andi’s smile grows a bit. She grabs ahold both of Buffy’s hands, steps a fee inches forward. Buffy’s eyes widened when Andi leans in. In a single moment, their lips touch briefly for what is supposed to be a tender sentiment between them, yet Buffy shoves the short-haired girl back. Andi stumbles back while Buffy’s fingers race to trial across her lips. Andi looks like she’s been punched, Buffy being the culprit. “Andi- I don’t- I-” She tried coming up with a good explanation- but none of it would make any sense. 

“What’s- what’s wrong?” Andi asks, voice strained. She’s attempting to compose herself. Her eyes are telling a different story, and Buffy feels _awful _\- but-__

____

____

“I’ve- I have no idea. I woke up- and everything was _different _-”__

____

____

Cyrus and TJ are looking at them, TJ is whispering something to the shorter boy. She wants them to go away. “-I’m sorry,” Buffy finishes. Andi’s betrayal doesn’t become less evident. Buffy doesn’t blame her- Andi doesn’t know. She isn’t the same Buffy that this Andi knows. 

“Did I do something?” 

“Andi, no-”

“Then why’d you shove me back?” 

“I think- I think I need a break. That’s all.” Buffy takes in a deep breath, counts to three, and exhales. 

Andi rubs her eyes. They’re turning red and watery. “I don’t…” She trials off, sniffling. She tries maintaining her composure, although it falters as whenever her eyes dart back to look at Buffy. “Okay, if that’s… what you need.”

An affirmative "it is" plays at Buffy’s lips, but she knows it definitely wasn't the right thing to say. None of this was Andis fault, and she sure as hell doesn’t deserve it. The universe is fucking with all of them- Buffy’s sure of it. She just needs to understand why. 

-

Andi isn’t at school the following day. Buffy keeps picking at her nails as a distraction, peels away the coating of purple polish she put on them the night before as a means of distraction. The rom-con she’d put on didn’t help, and trying to sleep certainly didn’t either. “Do you think she’s okay?” Buffy asks, and Cyrus looks at her, almost in disbelief. It was a stupid question, sure, but still. Buffy looks between Cyrus and Jonah, both of whom are sitting across from her. 

Cyrus answers, “You kind of broke up with her.” Then he shrugs. Buffy’s eyes downcast to the table, specks of peeled off nail polish scatter across it. “Is there something you’re not telling us?” Cyrus adds, “Last week you were going on and on about how you were gonna ask her to winter formal.” 

Buffy feels sick, not being able to recall what Cyrus is telling her. “I know,” Buffy lies. Her stomach knots up again. “Things change, I guess. And I’m not hiding anything from you guys, I’m fine.” 

“That’s the worst excuse ever,” Jonah joins in, “We all know when you’re lying. You start playing with your hair and pick at your nails. See? You’re doing it right now.” He motions towards Buffy’s hands. Buffy rolls her eyes and tucks her hands underneath her thighs so she couldn’t mess with them anymore.  
“You guys wouldn’t get it.” 

Both Cyrus and Jonah scoff. Cyrus cracks a smile at their simultaneous annoyance. Buffy doesn’t find any humor in it, and her fingers inch to be tapping on the table. “We’ll get you to tell us eventually. Plus, you love Andi too much just to break up with her and not tell her why,” Cyrus explains to her. 

Buffy stands up abruptly, grabbing her backpack. There’s still a few minutes left until classes begin, but she no longer feels like sitting with the two other boys. “I really don’t feel like talking about this, I’ll see you guys later.” She doesn’t realize her fingers have started tapping against the side of her thighs in a hasty motion. 

Irritated, Buffy runs her hands over her face as soon as she takes a seat in the back of the physics classroom. Her phone is sitting in front of her, darkened screen. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was hoping for a text from Andi to pop up, she’d been used to texting her in class during middle school. She wonders if they still do the same now, in high school. She pushes a button on her phone, making the screen light up. Only a good morning from TJ, of all people, and a single heart from her mother. She stares at the messages until they disappear underneath a black veil. 

_I could try to explain it to them _, Buffy thinks. She could try. With a black, sparkly pen she doodles on her notebook while making a mental list on ways to go about telling them. None of them could possibly come out right. None of them made sense- it shouldn’t make sense. Andi should be dating Jonah, they’d been crushing on each other for so long already. And Andi’s straight- they had the conversation before when Buffy came out to her as bisexual during a sleepover. Buffy shivers, even though the physics room is burning up, because that night would have been almost two years ago today. But to Buffy, to _her _, it’s only been three months.____

_____ _

_____ _

Buffy grabs at her hair again, and presses her nails into her cheeks to make small, red crescent shapes scatter across them. She curses under her breath, low enough so no one else could hear her. She’s growing increasingly frustrated- increasingly saddened- over the horrible game the universe has dawned upon her. She’d no clue what it meant- what she should do to get out or if she was stuck in this future with no way out. 

-

She ends up talking to TJ after Andi hadn’t talked to her for a week. Buffy doesn’t blame her. 

It still hurts. Because she can’t hold Andi’s hand. They still held each other even when in middle school, they’ve always been close. And whether or not this was real, they were best friends before being a couple, and Buffy wants to keep that preserved, kept close with her forever. 

She almost gags at how cheesy it sounds. 

“Do you remember the day when Andi and I first got together?” Buffy questions, although she’s bracing herself for TJ to say no. TJ finishes answering a question on his History homework before saying, “I think so. You asked her out to a restaurant over the phone, at least that’s what I’ve heard from Andi. Um, why?” 

Buffy smiles. “Oh, okay. It’s just, I know I’ve been a shitty… girlfriend.” 

“Kind of,” says TJ with a smug expression. Buffy opens her mouth to retaliate, but TJ speaks again before she has the chance. “Cyrus and I went on a “break” before. Breaks usually lead to _breakups _or whatever but we figured it out. I won’t get into it, but you and Andi can definitely work things through, too. You guys love each other too much.”__

____

____

“Cyrus almost told me the exact same thing last week.” 

TJ blushes at the mention of Cyrus, eyes downcasting to his homework to hide his face from Buffy’s vision. She can still see the red of his neck despite his palm attempting to cover it. Maybe the two being together isn’t as bad as Buffy was thinking. “Do you know the significance of the War of 1812?” TJ asks, hopping away from their previous conversation. He taps the end of his pencil against the table, gradually picking up a rhythm. 

“Just look it up,” Buffy responds quickly, causing TJ to groan and pull out his phone from the pocket of his mustard-yellow sweater. “ _Anyway _, I don’t know how to talk to her about- this.”__

____

____

TJ would never be exactly sure of what she means by that, but he nods in understanding and Buffy suddenly feels a little bit less alone. 

“Hadn’t you liked her since eighth grade? I remember you talking about it. You came out to her at a sleepover or something and then you were all like, ‘oh shit, I have a crush on my best friend!’ afterwards. The realization just jumped out. But you didn’t tell her until… three months later? But you know all that.” He waves himself off, going back to his homework as if Buffy didn’t care at all of what he had to say. 

Meanwhile, however, Buffy’s jaw drops slightly and her knees go weak. The sleepover is when she figured out she had feelings for Andi? She doesn’t- she can’t remember ever thinking to herself that she had a crush on Andi. Maybe in this alternate reality, but she’d no clue of that. 

When her and Andi finally finished their Netflix binge at one in the morning and decided they needed at least some sleep they cuddled up to one another. Andi’s head had rested against Buffy’s shoulder while one arm was thrown over Buffy’s chest. Andi fell asleep soon after she got comfortable against Buffy with her hair falling over her shut eyelids. Buffy stayed awake for another twenty minutes or so, the adrenaline that came alongside telling Andi she likes girls keeping her up, looking towards the ceiling of Andi’s room. She had her arm around Andi, an instinct that she didn’t realize she possessed until she felt her fingers gently wrap around one side of the shorter girl’s waist. And she remembers, although barely, that she could have stayed in that bed until the following night, until forever hit, probably, as long as Andi was there at her side. 

_Shit _. “Shit,” Buffy then says aloud. TJ’s head shoots up again, a questioning look garnering his features. Buffy continues albeit softly, “I like Andi.”__

____

____

“Um…duh. We all know that.” 

“I _like Andi _.” She pressed the tips of her fingers to her lips, mumbling into them sentences she couldn’t even begin to conduct the meaning of. “I need to- do you know where she’d be right now?” Buffy asks with urgency lacing her voice.__

____

____

“She should be at the park with Cyrus, we can head over there right now if ya want.” 

Buffy couldn’t process what to say, only gibberish spills from her lips, but TJ understands. 

-

The walk to the park felt as if it took ages. TJ rambled on about the next high school basketball team he’d be going against, while Buffy’s thoughts rambled on about how she’d go about apologizing to Andi. 

“God, I’m so stupid,” Buffy says to herself as soon as she spots Cyrus and Andi sitting together at the only swingset in the park. TJ laughs, “You’re not. Well, _sometimes _, but ya know.”__

____

____

Cyrus and TJ greet each other as they normally would. A kiss to Cyrus’ forehead from TJ while the shorter of the two wraps his arms around TJ’s waist and pulls him impossibly closer. Buffy catches them exchange a look, one that silently agreed that it’d be best if they left the two girls alone. Buffy mentally thanks them, although now she felt the tension grow even thicker between her and Andi. 

“Hey,” She says and rubs the back of her neck with a slightly shaky palm. 

“Hey,” Andi replies. She still holds a soft smile on her face. “You should sit.” 

Buffy looks to the absent swing. “Right.” She takes a seat on the swing, hands gripping the chains holding it up. “About the thing that happened at the theater…” 

“You don’t have to apologize.” Andi shakes her head and looks up at the blue sky that’s clouded with gray. “You’re still my best friend either way, nothing’s going to change that.” 

Buffy’s heart swells at Andi’s words. But she hadn’t came here to be told something she already knew. God, she’d found out she likes her best friend and it only took her two- no, four years now, to figure that out. 

“You’re my best friend too, _nothing’s going to change that _,” she quotes Andi, “But I also don’t want anything changing the fact that we’re dating.”__

____

____

It feels good to say aloud for the first time. 

“What about the whole… theater fiasco, then?” 

“Nothing’s going to condone that, but I was being so, so ridiculous. Some Freaky Friday shit must’ve happened or _something _-”__

____

____

She gets Andi to giggle. 

“-because that… wasn’t at all me. And I’m sorry, I’m so sorry.” 

Andi turns the swing so the chains twist together, letting her sit sideways to look at Buffy. Buffy does the same, a nervous smile adorning her face. “You were being ridiculous, probably a bit more than just that, but I forgive you. As long as you give me the kiss that I obviously deserve now.” She smirks sheepishly at her girlfriend. 

_-Girlfriend. Girlfriend. ___

____

“Obviously.” 

They both stand up, the swings too far apart to get to one another. Sand blows up into the air from the bottom of Buffy’s shoes, yet she still kicks at the ground nervously. “Hey, look at me,” Andi’s gentle voice tells her, and suddenly her small hands are cupping the sides of Buffy’s face. “I love you,” she whispers, lips only an inch or two away from each other. 

The three words managed to make Buffy’s stomach do somersaults and her voice cracks as she says, “I love you, too.” 

Andi giggles again, and their foreheads touch briefly. Her breath hits Buffy’s lips, and for a second she closes her eyes, half expecting for a kiss. 

But instead, a phone rings. Andi steps back, grabbing her phone from her back pocket. “Sorry,” she mouths before answering. Buffy can only tensely nod, her lips tickle. 

Andi speaks to whomever had called her, the conversation only lasting a minute or so. “I totally forgot that I’m going out to dinner with my mom and Cece. I’ll see you tomorrow though, okay?” 

“Um, yeah. Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

She has a good feeling about tomorrow. 

“See you, and say bye to TJ and Cyrus for me if they come back,” Andi says. She’s then leaning in to press a kiss to the corner of Buffy’s mouth. 

They exchange one last goodbye before Andi turns around to exit the park. 

Minutes pass until Cyrus and TJ do appear again, both boys wondering if they were still on their so-called “break”. Buffy explains what had happened, and that Andi still didn’t get her deserved kiss. “There’s always tomorrow,” Cyrus says with a shrug. And for some reason, probably to make Buffy annoyed, he quickly pecks TJ’s lips. 

“I guess you’re right. I should get going, though.” 

“Of course, now that your girlfriend’s gone,” TJ says, jokingly rolling his eyes. 

“Shut up, I’ll see you two tomorrow.” 

“See you,” the couple says in unison. 

-

Buffy doesn’t wake up to the smell of pancakes with syrup poured over them, waiting for her in the kitchen. Still, she eagerly grabs her phone from her bedside table and wanders into the kitchen, or more-so stumbles, the feeling of having just woken up still clouding around her. She expects to see her mother making breakfast in the kitchen, but is met with a lone plate of waffles sitting on the table. Her father is making a pot of coffee. “Where’s mom?” Buffy questions as her grip slightly tightens on her phone. 

Her dad passes her a staggered look. “What do you mean? She isn’t coming back ‘til October.” 

“But it’s Decem-” Buffy bites the inside of her cheek. Quickly, she turns on her phone, searching for the date. _February 8th, 2018 _. “Fuck,” she mutters under her breath, praying that her father hadn’t heard her. But he’d already gone back to getting a glass mug from one of the cabinets and setting it on the kitchen counter to pour his black coffee into.__

____

____

Buffy rushes back to her room, almost tripping over her own feet as she’s far too focused on searching through her messages and photos. The same thing she did when she thought it’d been 2020 just two weeks before. 

She’s met with normal pictures of her and her friends. Them at the carnival together, pictures of Cyrus and Andi hugging while at the beach. Her Instagram doesn’t have any pictures of her and Andi holding hands or kissing each other’s cheeks. 

Buffy sighs. Her and Andi aren’t dating. It sounds odd to say now- almost heartbreaking. 

What had been the point? Had she been dreaming up that entire alternative reality- some messed up thing that felt far too real to even be counted as a lucid dream? 

She’s aware of her crush on Andi now. She’s aware that it’s always been there, too, and it took that short conversation with _TJ _of all people to help her realize it.__

____

____

It’s almost seven o’clock. Around the time that Andi usually wakes up. Buffy sits at the edge of her bed, searching for Andi’s number in her contacts. There isn’t a heart by her name, nor "Andi" being replaced with some sweet petname. Buffy makes a mental note to change that as soon as she can. 

“Hey,” Buffy says when Andi picks up. 

Andi’s voice is groggy from sleep. “Hey,” she says and still sounds beautiful. 

“I know it’s way too early to do this, and I really could just ask you at school, but would you wanna go with me to the movies sometimes this week?”

“Oh, um, sure! Do you want to invite Cyrus or something?” 

Buffy pulls the phone away from her to take a deep breath. When it returns she answers, “No… no. I- I was kind of wondering if we could make it like, a date?” 

There is a long pause on Andi’s end. For a moment Buffy is worried that she’d actually just had a long dream, how deep had she been in her sleep for _that _to happen? Oh God, now she’s completely fucked over their entire friendship and _of course _, how could she have trusted TJ Kippen-____

__

__

__“Buffy, I’d love to.”_ _

**Author's Note:**

> for some reason as i was writing i was like, "something about this seems problematic" but idk maybe i'm just worried about what people think of my writing. (or maybe it's cus buffy never told them about what had happened-) but i hope for those of you that DID read this, you enjoyed it. i had fun writing it.


End file.
